Critics Say Soda Policy For Schools Lacks Teeth

By MELANIE WARNER; David Carr, whose column normally appears on this page, is on vacation.

Published: August 22, 2005

When the American Beverage Association announced a new policy curbing sales of sodas in schools last week, the soft drink industry billed the move as a bold new plan to address the urgent problem of childhood obesity.

But critics see the move more as a clever marketing ploy than a noble attempt to protect children. Nutrition activists, dietitians and groups representing concerned parents say the beverage association's policy will not change the status quo meaningfully and that the industry's changes do not go nearly far enough to restrict sales of unhealthy products.

The policy, which is voluntary and nonenforceable, decrees that companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi will not sell regular soda, diet soda or sugary drinks in elementary schools. Regular soda will be sold in middle schools only after school hours and will be no more than half the vending machine selections at high schools. Beverage companies say that bottles of Coke and Pepsi will be replaced by healthier products like juice drinks, sports drinks and iced tea.

''Childhood obesity is a serious problem in the U.S.,'' Susan K. Neely, the beverage association president and chief executive, said in a news release. ''We intend to be part of the solution by increasing the availability of lower-calorie and/or nutritious beverages in schools.''

But critics say the policy falls short in many ways. In particular, it does not make any difference in high schools, where most school soda purchases are made.

As it stands, many vending machines in high schools already meet the policy's requirement that fewer than 50 percent of the choices be soda, said Margo Wootan, director of nutritional policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nutrition advocacy group.

According to a survey the center did in 121 high schools in 24 states in late 2003, 45 percent of all vending machine selections were regular and diet sodas.

Dan Schafer, spokesman for Coca-Cola, said the company's soda and nonsoda sales in schools were about even.

''This means that the policy effectively does not address high schools at all because it won't affect the status quo,'' Ms. Wootan said.

''When you go into middle schools, maybe they have a few vending machines, but in high schools there's several walls of those big Coke and Pepsi machines,'' she said. ''High schools are also the place where students have the most access to unhealthy foods because most of them have their own money.''

The American Beverage Association, which last year changed its name from the National Soft Drink Association, said it did not think sodas should be removed from high schools because it believed older students were able to make better decisions. ''Unlike younger children, who may need the guidance of an adult to help them make choices, parents tell us they believe high-school-aged children have the ability to make informed choices,'' the association said in a statement.

The association's middle school policy, which restricts full-calorie soda and juice drinks containing 5 percent or less real juice to after-school hours, should indeed cut down on the consumption of soda. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest's report, 28 percent of vending choices in middle schools are for regular soda, which has roughly 250 calories and the equivalent of 17 teaspoons of sugar in a 20-ounce bottle. Under the new policy, that 28 percent will go to zero for choices during the school day.

But critics charge that some of the soda alternatives that are being peddled are not much better. Ms. Wootan called the many types of lemonade, iced tea, flavored fruit drinks and sports drinks now finding their way into school vending machines nothing more than ''soda without the bubbles.''

Sports drinks such as Gatorade, which is sold by Pepsi, and Powerade, made by Coke, have about half the calories of soda, but are made with sugar syrups and salt, two ingredients nutritionists do not recommend for children.

''There's no reason for kids to be drinking sports drinks during school when they're not exercising or playing sports,'' said Katherine Tallmadge, a registered dietitian in Washington and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

Sports drinks, as well as products like Coca-Cola's Minute Maid juice drinks, which contain only 10 percent actual juice, can be sold in middle schools and high schools under the beverage association's policy.

''Any school that would even offer these types of things to children is misinformed about the basics of good nutrition,'' said Penny McConnell, director of food and nutrition services at Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia. Fairfax schools sell only bottled water, 100 percent juice and milk, the three beverage choices recommended most by nutritionists for children.

The new industry policy also bans all soda in elementary schools. But school activists point out that both Coca-Cola and Pepsi already have policies not to sell soda to elementary schools. Lucy Nolan, executive director of End Hunger Connecticut, a group that supported that state's bill to ban sugared soda sales in schools, applauds the industry for formalizing the elementary school ban, but she says she thinks doing so will have little impact in schools.

''There are some elementary schools that do sell soda, despite the fact that Coke and Pepsi say they have a policy against it, but it's only a few schools,'' Ms. Nolan said.

John H. Downs Jr., spokesperson for Coca-Cola Enterprises, Coke's largest bottling company, says he thinks the elementary school ban is significant because it has broader support than before. ''We have been following the previous ban, but there are other bottlers that had a different point of view,'' Mr. Downs said. ''Now the whole industry is behind it.''

Photo: At Jones College Prep in Chicago, the soda selection has been wide. (Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty Images)(pg. C8)